• Home
• Company
• Case Studies
• US Army Mosque Training Facility

US Army Mosque Training Facility

Project Name

Fort Drum Training Facility #79

Customer Name
Fort Drum Army Base, New York

Design / Specifying Engineer
Fort Drum

Block Manufacturer
Sunnycrest Precast

Project Location
Fort Drum, NY

Year Built
2008

Project Scope

The Army was looking for a product that could simulate the walls that surrounding mosques in Iraq that troops encounter on a regular basis while on duty. The goal was to give soldiers a training experience with physical characteristics similar to what they will experience in combat in Iraq to better prepare them. The army required a product that was durable, moveable so that it could be reconfigured to simulate other combat situations, and flexible enough to allow creative design.

Fort Drum consists of 107,265 acres. Its mission includes command of active units, providing administrative and logistical support to tenant units, and planning and support for the mobilization and training of almost 80,000 troops annually. Fort Drum is home to the 10th Mountain Division.

The local Redi-Rock manufacturer, Sunnycrest Precast, Inc., approached Fort Drum with the Redi-Rock freestanding wall system and proposed it as a solution to their simulated combat building needs. Officials were impressed when they learned of the Forward Operating Base that had been built at Fort Chaffee and saw that Fort Drum could adapt Redi-Rock freestanding walls to suit their particular needs.

Redi-Rock freestanding walls are build using massive 1,500 pound precast concrete blocks that interlock using a knob and groove system similar to a giant Lego block system. The massive size of the blocks allow them to be installed quickly using a piece of heavy equipment and a small crew.

The design of the Fort Drum project encompasses a mosque-type assemblage surrounded by Redi-Rock freestanding walls. Approximately 4,000 sq. ft. of retaining walls were installed in about 3.5 weeks to complete the project by fall of 2008 and the army was very satisfied with how quickly the walls went up.

Fort Drum plans to use the wall until another training situation is needed, at which time the blocks will be easily moved and reconfigured to provide relevant training experience to the army troops stationed there.

Case Studies